A darn fine (and worthy) sequel
How can you top the original PSYCHO?
You can't.
But you can do it justice, and PSYCHO II accomplishes that. Its most important key to success, coming over 20 years after the first film, is the return of the same performers - Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, and the HOUSE. Using the same exact house/motel set lends this sequel incalculable credibility and continuity. Without it, the movie probably would have been "just another sequel."
Perkins is simply outstanding as Norman (gotta love the way he says "cu- u- utlery") and Meg Tilly and Robert Loggia are nicely cast in their roles. The plot has a nice handful of twists throughout, and a whopper of an afterthought ending. Jerry Goldsmith provides a fine score, wisely avoiding the temptation to mimic Herrmann's original.
The DVD presentation is full-frame, but DON'T let that stop you from buying it. The film is open-matte, which means a widescreen version would simply MASK the top and bottom. In other...
Excellent, scary sequel. Shout! Factory ...another class act.
This blu ray is very well done. The box says 4.0 but is really 5.1 DTS-HD MA. This is an excellent horror sequel, the returning and new cast is great and the script, cinematography, music, and direction is top notch. The blu ray has extras a really good picture and audio. Very pleased, as I have been with all Shout!(Scream) Factory purchases: Piranha, Halloween II, The Fog, The Howling and now Psycho II.
As good as sequels get.
The original "Psycho," a classic in the great tradition of Hitckcock's many films, brought so much to the world of movies that it was hard to imagine that any sequel to a movie as stupendous as this would be any good. Sequels, especially those of the horror genre, tend to be very trite and uninvolving, which is why, after watching "Psycho II," I was in a state of shock over how good it actually was. Of course, it's not Hitchcock, and will never live up to the caliber of the first film, but for what it's worth, it gets its formula right and keeps it right.
The movie picks up many years later, after the horrific murders at the Bates Motel, and Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) has just been released back into the world despite harsh protest from Lila Crane (Vera Miles), the sister who stopped at nothing to find her sister, Bates's shower victim. He returns to the motel, a drug-ridden sex house run by a sleazy man, and to his home, the place where his mental problems...
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